"the happy life - changing behaviours to change the world"

In partnership with:INSTITUT DE LIAISONSET D’ÉTUDES DES INDUSTRIESDE CONSOMMATION

“Mes Courses pour la Planète” (litterally « Shopping for a Better World ») was initially set up at the end of 2007 as an informational website specialised in responsible consumption with three key tasks:

• informing the public;• supporting public and private initiatives;• conducting forward-looking research and studies, and investigating trends.

“Mes Courses pour la Planète” is an initiative by “Graines de Changement” [“Seeds of Change”], a venture created by Elisabeth Laville, who also founded the leading French sustainability consul-tancy Utopies in 1993 and is the author of an official report about the French policy on sustainable consumption, provided to the French Minister of Environment Nathalie Kosciuko-Morizet in ja-nuary 2011.

www.mescoursespourlaplanete.com

Adopting a more sustainable lifestyle should not be a luxury reserved for a privileged few and that requires compromises. IKEA intends to help the millions of people, whose lives we touch every year,

to adopt new daily behaviours, so as to show that each of us can act at our own level, and to prove the existence of affordable products and solutions that are easy to implement. A key issue for our company, which will allow us to meet the social and environmental challenges of our times, is therefore to gain a better understanding of how to promote and more effectively support sustainable lifestyles. Carole Brozyna-Diagne, Country Sustainability Director, IKEA France

ADEME (The National French Environmental Protection & Energy Agency) decided to partner with Mes Courses pour la Planète Shop for the Planet to conduct this study, which is designed

to analyse and gain perspective on the new forms of communication, and, more broadly, on new approaches to change management that could be implemented on sustainability issues. The main challenge is to promote a a compelling vision of the future and to make sustainable change appear not only necessary but also desirable; we also need to demonstrate that ecology can be a source of environmental, social, and economic innovation leading to a view of a more positive future.

Valérie Martin, Head of the Communication and Information Department, ADEME

Ilec-Prodimarques gathers together companies that market mass consumer products and share a common value: a brand that symbolises their standard of excellence. Even though they are not

perfect, these companies are aware of their responsibility to society and are constantly looking for new ways to adapt their operations and products. This is why Ilec-Prodimarques is very interested in this study, which explores new ways of helping society progress. Richard Panquiault, Managing Director of Ilec-Prodimarques

Partners

The starting point of this study, which has been published with the support of Ilec-Prodimarques, ADEME, and IKEA, is a simple observation, which has often been made in Anglo-Saxon ecological

circles in recent years: “The catastrophisation of the future freezes people,” as the entrepreneur and social activist Paul Hawken said with great lucidity at a conference in California in 2013. In other words, the “traditional” doomsday rhetoric of sustainable development and global warming, with its “the world is coming to an end” message, is no longer achieving its purpose, especially in times of crisis when the future already seems very uncertain. For those inclined to self-criticism, the sustainability movement is currently failing to make the lifestyle it is calling for and the future it is proposing seem positive and attractive.

We have therefore chosen to explore the hypothesis that the time has come to learn to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. According to psychiatrists1, one can learn to be optimistic, and this will have a significant positive impact on one’s health – which is an argument in line with sustainable development.

The key lessons from the interviews and studies we have conducted are numerous, fruitful, and also tend to corroborate with one another (which is good news). They all indicate that change need not be initiated but must rather be encouraged since it has already begun, and since a new society is already forming around us. They also indicate that, since a hellish prospect is hard to sell, we need a positive and enthusiastic political vision of the coming future that will create both the desire to change and an impatience for the future to arrive (which will help us get through the difficult transition years and accept the work that needs to be done). Finally, they outline the frontiers of an improved society in which one can create a better life – a society in which each stakeholder takes on his or her responsibility rather than relying on others, in which we build on our successes rather than on our failures, in which we use our individual and collective ability to change, or, as Tal Ben-Shahar has said, “in which we avoid the tyranny of the OR and embrace the genius of the AND”, thus discovering that sustainable development is both for the future AND the present, for the future of our planet AND for the future of each of us, for reason AND for pleasure, etc.

The starting point of this study is that, when it comes to sustainable development, acting upon behabiours is both crucial and necessary. Regardless of the scenario considered, developed countries will need to reduce their consumption of resources by 50% to 80% in the next 30 to 50 years according to the UNDP and Futuribles – by making major reductions in consumption and major lifestyle changes. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is conveying the same message when it states that technological progress will only account for 50% of the reduction in greenhouse gases, and that lifestyle and behavioural changes must account for the other 50%. There can therefore no longer be any doubt: ordinary consumers will have a larger say than policy makers in determining the future of our planet.

However, our study shows that the overwhelming tendency is to think of behavioural change in top-down terms. In fact, the reaction of economic and political decision-makers to the findings mentioned above seems to be that change must be imposed on people “from on high”, and that they must be made to understand what they either could not understand on their own or would negate with their behaviour. Precisely this vision is behind the success of the so-called “nudge” – a subtle method to induce the right decisions, which has the advantage of being inexpensive and painless since it leaves the choice up to the public and is relatively easy to implement (which is important in areas where “urgent action is required”). The best known type of “nudge” is the “choice-editing”. An example is a hotel not providing fresh towels every day unless specifically requested to do so by the customer.

1) For example, see the book by Christophe André or “Optimiste” by Alain Braconnier (Odile Jacob, 2014).

I. WHY THE CURRENT METHODS TO CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOURS DO NOT WORK…

Furthermore, no matter whether the issue is global warming, health, road safety, or crime prevention, we like to think that the facts can lead people to change their behaviour – because we like to think that people are essentially “rational” and will act in their own best interests if given the right information. We have, after all, grown up thinking that “knowledge is power”. However, we are now forced to conclude that simply publishing statistics and risks does not lead people to change their behaviour.

The latest findings of neuroscience regarding the brain shed light on this issue: facts, information and fear required to counter our rational sense of cause and effect create so much stress in us that our prefrontal cortex – which governs our ability to steadfastly confront complex problems – is “disconnected”. This then causes people to withdraw with a sense of failure, a situation that is not conducive to their changing their behaviour. Conversely, it has already been shown that, by changing the way one addresses people, one can change their “mental mode” and put them in a state of awareness that allows them to act reasonably since it engages their prefrontal cortex (the seat of adaptation, resilience, creativity, management of complex issues, intelligence, serenity, altruism, and empathy, etc.). In other words: The more people are talked down to by, in particular, corporate and political decision-makers as if people were incapable of understanding or changing, and as if they carried sole responsibility for the problem because they are resistant to change, the more likely it is that one ends up with the behaviour one wishes to avoid. This is the very definition of the Golem effect pointed out by the American psychologist Robert Rosenthal.

Thus, a serious obstacle to the promotion of companies’ sustainable development solutions is the belief that they must keep it simple, i.e. simplistic, since, otherwise, the average consumers “Jane and John Public” will not understand. The result is that marketing departments regard consumers as shopping carts to be filled rather than viewing them for what they are: individuals perfectly aware of the challenges they face – who are often more willing to change than corporations or politicians.

INITIATIVE // The “default option” or the most effective “nudge” to dateWhen the Germany energy supplier Energiedienst GmbH offered its customers three different rates – a default “green” rate, and two alternative rates (a rate that was less “green” and 8% cheaper, or an even “greener” rate that was, however, 23% more expensive) – 94% of its customers chose the default option, and only 4% opted for one of the other two.

INITIATIVE // Citizens’ conferencesThe citizens’ conference is a participative democratic tool created in Denmark during the 1980s as an innovative way to allow for citizens to deliberate and provide policy recommendations for public authorities… A panel of some twenty citizens is created to address a given topic, and discuss it with experts and the various stakeholders. The panel then draws up an opinion based on its findings and – above all – its recommendations to the elected officials and opinion leaders. This initiative regularly demonstrates that non-experts are able to understand complex issues and act in the general interest.

Another important lesson is that, from the point of view of (positive) psychology, fear and its corollaries (rewards, punishments, etc.) have adverse effects on our ability to solve problems that require us to think differently. Conversely, our own positive emotions and individual motivations help us think more globally and increase creativity and the probability of devising integrated solutions. Nevertheless, because the predominant vision is that of a problem that must be solved in order to avoid impending disaster, this approach has virtually never been applied to sustainable development issues, which present challenges that require more creativity and global thinking.

In a practical sense, however, change is already taking place – bottom up rather than the top down – and a new vision is already forming since, even when subject to restrictions, the new behaviours (community-supported agriculture, the local food movement, car-sharing, buying cooperatives, etc.) have unexpected positive effects. People now simply want to live differently in order to live better, with fewer possessions but more connections. These are concrete, positive aspirations – and they are diametrically opposed to doomsday scenarios.

If we are to change our way of life, such collective initiatives are essential since we all live in communities. Medicine has shown the effectiveness of approaches based on an emotional relationship with a person or group that believes things will change. Our purchasing patterns are in large part determined by the social norms that govern our lives (ritual gifts, fashion, means of communication, etc.). In short, to consume is to participate in society, but, contrary to the view that, as consumers, we express our free will, individual consumers do not always have choices. As Montesquieu reminded us, lifestyles, once referred to as “customs”, are not dictated by law but by force of example. The need to modify “social norms” to the point where behaviour changes give the media, celebrities, and luxury brands a potentially important role (which has so far remained largely unfilled).

INITIATIVE // Dean Ornish’s work with cardiac patientsAlthough patients who have undergone triple bypass surgery know that they need to change their habits in order to prevent their problem from recurring, nine out of ten do not change – and this despite having received dire warnings from their physicians.Dr Dean Ornish has developed a programme that has virtually reversed this success rate by taking advantage of a positive group dynamic, adopting new positive routines that improve well-being (a vegetarian diet, daily yoga and meditation sessions), and making plans to use the extra years of life gained to pursue a passion.

INITIATIVE // Huffington Post’s “What’s Working”Ariana Huffington launched her global editorial project “What’s Working” at the 2015 Davos World Economic Forum. It aims to double Huffington Post’s coverage of global positive news. The goal is clear: « While we will continue to cover the stories of what’s not working as relent-lessly as we always have, we want to go beyond “If it bleeds, it leads.” By telling the stories of people and communities doing amazing things, overcoming great odds and coming up with solutions to the very real challenges they face, we hope that we can scale up these solutions and create a positive contagion that can expand and broaden their reach and application. »

The bestseller “Built to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras draws lessons from a number of companies that have enjoyed long-term success. It is interesting to see how the rules these companies have developed can be employed to make sustainable development a success.

The first rule developed by these companies is to create a positive vision of a future to which they intend to contribute. In contrast to the hell we are assured global warming will cause (refugees, catastrophes, etc.), there is no doubt a message to which the world would respond positively, one which would touch people’s hearts and minds, and even change their behaviours, is one presenting a positive vision of a future that we all want to help create – a message that the ecological movement has to date failed to communicate. We need a positive vision of the low-carbon future, one that is as visually attractive as possible, an ideal presented with a sweeping story (that mirrors the world), but capable of individual, personal application (how it affects my life).

INITIATIVE // The South Korean Green CardIn 2011, the South Korean government instituted a compre-hensive eco-reward programme called the “Green Card”. It allows cardholders to collect points that can be transformed into money by reducing their water and energy (electricity and gas) consumption at home, or by using public transpor-tation and buying eco-labelled products. The card is issued free of charge, and is already held by 5 million Koreans.

II. PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: NEW LEVERS TO CHANGE BEHAVIOUR

INITIATIVE // San Francisco, the first “zero-waste” city in the worldIn 2002, the city of San Francisco in the United States became the first in the world to set itself the goal of producing zero waste (= recycling or composting 100% of its waste) by 2020. This programme, which includes awareness-raising campaigns and tax and financial incentives for the most exemplary households, stimulates more sustainable behaviours and is on its way to meeting its original ambitious goal.

If sustainable development is both our present and our future, we must bet more on continuity than on disruption. The discussion of these subjects, as currently conducted, tends to speak of what must end, but an increasing number of experts think that, on the contrary, we must draw upon what is already being done since disruption leads to the dual problem of alarmism, on the one hand, and stigmatisation and finger-pointing, on the other. The “appreciative inquiry” technique of positive psychology has shown us that we learn more from our experiences when we succeed, and, above all, that talking about such experiences increases the successful effect they have on us. Allowing success stories to emerge permits positive change. This is first of all due to the power of such stories and our imagination, which are in any case more powerful than numbers or statistics (take the recent example of the refugee problem: we had all the statistics, but did not react until we saw a photo of a dead child on a beach); but it is also due to the power of positive stories, and to what they have changed, both individually and collectively, in the lives of those who experienced them.

The fundamental challenge, therefore, is not to tell people what they can do for sustainable development but rather what sustainable development can do for them. In the end, the goals are not just altruistic ones, such as saving polar bears, but also to help people live the “good life” Aristotle advocated, and to encourage people to get back in touch with their joy in life, since it is precisely the gap between joy and life that triggers compensation mechanisms – one of which is over-consumption! For this reason, we must also urgently develop other strategies than the consumption of material goods to fulfill our need to belong, to be recognised, and to participate in society – something akin to civil service, which meets these needs for our youth.

INITIATIVE // The web platform collectively.org The platform collectively.org was created in 2014 with the support of companies including Google, Facebook, Unilever, and Marks & Spencer. It turns its back on the media’s fascination with pessimism and catastrophes and brings individual positive stories and inspiring initiatives to the young consumers of Generation Y. It doesn’t even use the term “sustainable development”, and prefers to speak of positive aspirations and lifestyles rather than scholarly research and statistics.

INITIATIVE // The ESPACE programmeESPACE (a school-based programme with an environmental component designed to educate and raise awareness among young people regarding alcohol and, so, prevent abuse), which was launched in 2009/2010, aims to improve the self-esteem and psycho-social skills of young people in order to prevent addictive behaviours and promote responsible consumption, in particular in the area of alcohol.

It is also interesting to use this same approach, which is based on people and their experiences, to take advantage of “life moments” in which people are more susceptible to the promise of a better life, and more disposed to change their lifestyle – such as at the birth of a child.

In short, anything that can cause people to shake off old habits, and help them acquire new ones, is welcome. Seen in this light, using “nudges” might be legitimate if one assumes that people are ready to change, but that, when the time comes to put their new lifestyle into practice on a daily basis, for a variety of reasons, they do not always make the right choice (under the influence of social norms or their neighbours, due to the way in which the choice was presented to them, etc.). The nudge is that subtle push in the right direction that helps people take action and frees them from the constraints of the current global, finger-pointing discourse – provided that everyone agrees that other approaches must immediately follow (such as information, financial incentives, or restrictions).

Since, as we have seen, social norms are particularly decisive when it comes to making purchasing decisions, it is equally important that we repeatedly practise the new behaviours, and turn them into “normal” habits appropriate to all ages. The importance of social norms suggests another tool: the use of media personalities as examples, ideally those not already known for their commitments to such issues – athletes, actors, artists, etc. Elites can also help change social norms since they set fashions – no matter whether they are comedians, intellectuals, or spokespersons for luxury brands. This is a powerful tool that can be used in the media, television, film, and serials. It is a well-known fact that social dynamics evolve both by imitation and differentiation, and so we should take these factors into consideration.

Tal Ben Shahar, the “star” proponent of positive psychology, believes that “an important lesson to be learned from the psychology of the 1960s is that, in the end, people’s actions are less determined by their personality than by their social environment”. Given this, another lever that simplifies and facilitates implementation of the transition is to reduce the cost of sustainable versus conventional products and behaviours – by providing a price signal that takes the actual impact of the products into account. However, the “cost” to be reduced is not only financial, but rather should also include the effort involved and ease of access.

INITIATIVE // IKEA’s “Sustainability & You” programmeIn 2015, IKEA launched the “Sustainability & You” programme that, with its collective dynamic, aims to help households live more sustainably by offering them a coach and EUR 500 in IKEA products and solutions adapted to their needs (energy optimisation, water conservation, waste sorting, etc.). This has led to average energy savings of 12% and a 4% reduction in water consumption!

It would be wrong to assign the responsibility to change to a single stakeholder group (much less to consumers, who cannot act in concert to defend themselves), since the transition to sustainable lifestyles will not succeed unless each of the triad of stakeholder groups – public authorities, businesses, and consumers, to which one could also add the media – accepts its responsibility without waiting for the others to act first. In addition, one of the most important conclusions of this study is that, in order to change others, one must first change oneself. Here then are our key recommendations for the key stakeholder groups. They should be read keeping in mind that many of the actions required can only be implemented if these groups learn to collaborate in new ways.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BUSINESSES

• First of all, assume a public role and contribute to issues of general interest (for example, in areas such as health, the environment, and employment) that fall within core business areas in order to help improve quality of life and present an attractive vision of a sustainable future.• Opt for “choice editing” and express commitments in product offerings. According to GlobeScan, 78% of European opinion leaders now think that businesses should offer sustainable instead of, not just in addition to, conventional products. This is referred to as the “choice editing” or “default choice” approach. Marketing should then ensure that customers accept the transition of all the products.

• Democratise sustainable product offerings so as to reach a broader range of customers, while at the same time ensuring that the highest price is not paid by those who exhibit sustainable behaviours but rather by those who choose less sustainable options whose impact ultimately costs more.

III. IN CONCLUSION: A FEW RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE STAKEHOLDERS

INITIATIVE // The Eurêcook project in Dijon (France)For the launch, in September 2015, of its new kitchen equipment leasing service, Eurêcook, SEB entered into a multi-party partnership with the association Envie (for logistics and maintenance), public authorities (the Urban Community of Greater Dijon, the City of Dijon, ADEME), and private entities (among them the Casino Group, which is providing the equipment).

INITIATIVE // When businesses commit to making all their products sustainableSetting aside SME pioneers, and “green” product lines designed for consumers of the “bobo” generation, major national companies, as well as global groups such as Marks & Spencer, Philips, Nike, IKEA, and Starbucks, have recently begun a transformation of most if not all of their product lines, which they will complete within the next few years.

• Improve marketing attitudes and messages by not treating customers as shopping carts to be filled but rather as individuals sensitive to the positive aspects of brands who are aware of challenges despite complexities and budget constraints.• Train marketers (initially, and also throughout their careers) on the necessary and unavoidable sustainable development transitions, to help them understand the great power brands can have to change behaviours and create new social norms, and to show them how certain brands succeed in turning their positive message and social and environmental commitments to commercial advantage.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MEDIA

• Talk about what works and, each time a problem is pointed out, also mention solutions. The media are very good at pointing out what is wrong with our societies, but rarely if ever take the time to investigate what needs to be done to solve the problems. The defenders of “civic journalism” maintain that the content that fills the newspaper columns and television screens should inspire people to participate in community life. The goal is no more and no less than to redefine the media’s role in public life, as proposed by the association “Reporters d’espoirs” [“Reporters of Hope”], formed in France in 2003 to promote “solution-based” information regarding economic, social, and environmental issues.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

• Construct a positive vision of the future and an attractive social project capable of being the “new frontier” for an entire generation. The transition to more sustainable lifestyles is a cultural and psychological revolution that will not take place without a clear political vision that sets out attractive, positive, ambitious, and radical goals, and provides clear and concrete guidelines on how to achieve them. San Francisco’s goal of “Zero Waste by 2020”, Costa Rica’s goal of “Carbon Neutrality by 2021”, the goal of “100% Local Renewable Energy by 2030” by the Community of the Communes of Mené (Bretagne), and Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness index are all examples of such collective, motivating visions.

• Provide a more balanced view of the current situation while also taking an interest in the future. We must simultaneously provide more balanced media coverage of current events (in the 1990s, the number of articles in the American media mentioning murder increased by more than 500% even though the homicide rate dropped by more than 40% during that time), and also go beyond current events, no matter how hot such topics might be, and begin documenting the better future promised by many current initiatives.

INITIATIVE // NBC’s “behaviour placement” approach Since 2010, the American television network NBC (National Broadcasting Company), under the influence of its owner, General Electric, has attempted to raise awareness among its viewers regarding ecological behaviour by adapting a product placement approach. Since that time it has had characters and presenters make eco-gestures in the series and shows it broadcasts. The goal is to subtly showcase desired behaviours until they become tomorrow’s social norms – without viewers being consciously aware of the process.

• Make sustainable consumption (as opposed to production) and lifestyles a separate area of public policy, no matter whether the topic is carbon footprint, planned obsolescence, or food waste. • Refine approaches and design more precisely targeted campaigns keeping in mind all factors that promote behavioural change. This means informing individual consumers rather than continuing to address an “average consumer” who may never have really existed, and in any case no longer does. Such campaigns can also take advantage of life moments (such as the birth of a child), group social dynamics (such as those created by sports and retirement associations, co-ownership, or neighbours), and individual differences in buying power (distinguish between more and less well-to-do households). • Make it easier for consumers to purchase products that pollute less by means of measures such as reducing the price of such products via ecological tax incentives, reducing VAT rates for eco-labelled products, and extending mandatory warrantees for capital goods.• Opt for a hybrid approach combining bottom-up (reporting on innovative grassroots initiatives and support for pioneering social groups that are a source of training and sustainable innovation) and top-down (regulation and standardisation in order to disseminate such initiatives) information, without neglecting to include regional authorities better equipped to implement such hybrid strategies.• Support innovation in the area of sustainable lifestyles, regardless of whether such innovation is technological (within a context of stable public policy that allows stakeholders to commit) or social (low-tech innovations such as community-supported agriculture, community living, transition towns, community gardens, and car-sharing).• Educate in order to create new “rituals” and habits in future generations, for example via raising awareness regarding one’s budget, food and nutrition, and also regarding eco-gestures such as those made by committed companies.• Create an IPCC for behaviour in order to share the latest knowledge with practitioners (such as public stakeholders, marketers, and the media). Knowledge in fact evolves rapidly in diverse areas (such as philosophy, anthropology, geography, the political sciences, economics, sociology, psychology, social psychology, management sciences, and marketing), and the theoretical literature is now ill-suited and little-used by those responsible for implementing change: educators/trainers, administrators, journalists and other media professionals, marketing and PR professionals, and the stakeholders on the relevant markets (such as the energy, food, transportation, and housing markets).

Our conclusion echoes our initial hypothesis: in many respects, the time has come for us to learn how to see the glass as half full rather than as half empty since, according to psychiatrists2, one can learn to be optimistic, and this will have a significant positive impact on one’s health – which is an argument in tune with sustainable development. As Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Therefore, despite polls that would have us believe the French are gloomy, we choose to be optimistic and positive. This is better for our morale, our health, our businesses – and our planet.

INITIATIVE // Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Since 1972, the small Himalayan country of Bhutan has established a reputation on a policy built around the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is in turn based on four pillars linked to the well-being of the country’s population: sustainable socioeconomic development, environmental conservation, good governance, and preservation and promotion of culture. Specifically, this means that a commission analyses laws and projects in accordance with a system of 72 GNH indicators. In environmental terms, Bhutan’s air is said to be the purest in the world (5 times purer than the European norm), 80% of its territory is wooded, and 52% of its land is managed within protected areas. In addition, the country is self-sufficient in terms of food (99% of its agriculture production is organic) and sells hydroelectric power to India.

2) For example, see the book by Christophe André or “Optimiste” by Alain Braconnier (Odile Jacob, 2014).

With the support of:

CHARTEHARMONY

INSTITUT DE LIAISONSET D’ÉTUDES DES INDUSTRIESDE CONSOMMATION